Third Night
by Lovedrr
Summary: The night after Luke Doggett is found leaves lasting wounds on Doggett and Reyes... (DRR)


**Disclaimer**: No copyright infringement intended.

**Notes**: This story was written ten years ago when the X-Files series ended. I do not know if there will ever be an X-Files 3 movie, but The Truth is still out there, and I hope there are still some Doggett/Reyes fans still out there as well! Please enjoy!

* * *

**Third Night**

* * *

The morning air was cold, very cold, and the sky was dark and overcast. It seemed as if rain would start pouring down at any moment. This day was predicted to have the worst weather that the area had seen all year.

It was fitting.

The tragedy of this day had been unequalled.

The darkness and coldness of the day mirrored the feelings within her heart, but could not match them.

Reyes drove her car slowly along the path which led between the rows of headstones. The cemetery was still and unmoving, its mood quiet and solemn. There were very few lights on the grounds, and the light of the covered dawn added very little illumination to this grim place.

It added none to her.

She drove to the location she knew so well. It had been etched into her memory ever since the day she'd attended the funeral. The funeral might as well have been her own, for a piece of her had died that day. No, truth be told, she had died the day she had found Luke's body in that field. She had died again when Doggett had arrived at the scene and sat down beside his son's lifeless body.

Reyes had always been a person full of life, energy and soul, and this case had taken so much of that from her that she didn't think she'd ever be able to get it back. However, she did get it back. The incident that occurred that very night had almost literally brought her back to life...

* * *

Reyes remembered sitting in her hotel room that night with the lights dim, the darkness a mirror of the blackness and emptiness within her heart and soul. She had cleaned up all the paperwork and routine with the local police, put all of the official things in their place, and even mailed off her report to her F.B.I. supervisor. Her mailing off the report was the first indication that she had almost made up her mind that she probably was never going back again.

Reyes had once again been crying her eyes out, as she had since she took over this case. She couldn't count how many times she'd slid away in various bathrooms to cry until she could regain herself. This time, though, there was no end to them. Her cheeks were wet, her hair disheveled, her eyes bloodshot red.

She'd thought of writing a letter to her parents. She had kept a pen and pad on the end table as well, but she just couldn't find the words. There would never be anything she could say to make them understand what she was feeling.

She had failed so badly. It had been the first case she was to take full lead on, and she had failed so miserably. She had left a family ruined and in shambles. She had let a little boy die because she hadn't found him in time. She had made the boy's mother become even more estranged from her husband and those around her. She had left the boy's father... John... whom she'd become so close to during this ordeal, with nothing but the very thing he had feared from the beginning. They both felt like they had lived a lifetime during these last three days. The only thing she had left him with was nothing but a dead home. She had never felt more miserable in her whole life.

Then, the phone rang. Its jingling shriek startled her. Part of her felt like she shouldn't bother to answer it, but her hand moved toward the phone anyway.

Slowly, she picked up the phone.

"Monica Reyes," she croaked.

"Reyes, it's Doggett," his voice filtered through the line.

Reyes took a breath. She was surprised. "Yes, Doggett. I'm here."

"Can... Can we talk? I… I just... just need to talk to somebody and... Barbara... Barbara's left to go to her mother's and… I..."

"Yes, Doggett," she said quickly. He sounded so devastated and broken. His raw pain was evident, even deeper than her own. "I'm here. I'm here for you."

"I... I'll be there soon," he said.

Then the line went dead. Reyes listened to the dial tone for a moment, shocked that he had chosen her to come to talk after the way she had failed him. Still, he was on his way, and that alone had given her a reason to try to pull herself together. She couldn't let him see her like this. Sitting on the edge of the bed in her bra and panties crying her eyes out. She quickly stood and headed into the bathroom to clean herself up.

By the time that the knock on the door resounded, she looked moderately presentable. Her long hair was a little more under control, and her eyes looked decent. She knew that she had to do her best to be there for him. She was at the door instantly.

Doggett looked terrible. If she had thought that she had looked bad, he was ten times worse. Without saying a word, he walked past her into her hotel room. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, as she tried desperately to think of words to comfort him.

Then, he turned to face her, and she realized that no words were needed. His brow was furrowed, his will broken. She stepped up close to him, and they looked into each other's eyes.

With nothing said between them, they both reached forward and put their arms around one another, holding each other close. They hugged tightly, grabbing onto each other as if the world was ending around them. Each other was all that they had left.

The rest of the night was a haze of emotion. They had sat on the bed, still holding each other. They later laid down, still dressed, and held one another. At some point, they had both fallen asleep, the exhaustion of three days with virtually no sleep finally overwhelming them.

The much needed sleep was a soothing and soul-baring night of tenderness. Sometimes she would hold his head upon her breasts as his body shook with anguished tears... sometimes he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and slept... sometimes she held onto his chest for dear life as her tears flowed like rain... sometimes she laid her cheek next to his own and slept... sometimes they simply stared into one another's pained and sorrowful eyes, deriving some measure of comfort in not being alone and being there with one another...

As the morning sun was rising, the two of them prepared to go their separate ways. There was still grave and deep pain within both of them, but at least now they could breathe again and had found the strength within one another to face a new day. There were still no words said between them, but they shared a tender smile before he opened the door and left.

That smile alone had shown their victory over the darkness trying to overtake them, for neither of them had ever thought they'd smile again. Maybe now, some kind of healing process could begin.

As soon as he left, Reyes picked up her things and headed out. She had left the bottle of vodka on the end table, but she had taken the cigarettes, unfortunately beginning a terrible habit that she would not find solace from until years later when this same man would ask her to be this partner. But for now, it offered to be a brief respite from the pain...

* * *

It was the same pain which was now welling up within her on this anniversary of the day of Luke Doggett's death. The coroner had determined that he had been killed only a short time before he'd been found in the field. Reyes remembered that when she had first ran over to him to check for a pulse, she had prayed that she'd find one, since he'd only looked like he was sleeping. She remembered once being told that every prayer is indeed answered, sometimes you just don't like the answer you get. Now, as she drove up the last hill to where Luke's body now lay, she once again felt the darkness tearing at her heart and soul. She needed another cigarette so bad that her hands were shaking, but she would not light up on this hallowed ground.

Then, she saw a car parked up ahead, directly in the very spot on which she'd planned to stop. She parked her car behind it and pulled out the little covered bouquet of flowers she had brought for Luke.

Reyes steadied herself, got out of the car, and started to walk her way over to see his resting place. As she neared the headstone, she caught sight of a man kneeling beside it. His form was unmistakable, for he was sitting in the exact same position he'd sat when one of the crime scene techs had inadvertently snapped a picture of the moment. It was a photograph she still kept to this day.

Even though the ground was soft and muddy due to recent rains, he still heard her approaching footsteps. Or perhaps, he simply felt her presence. Either way, he glanced behind him and then slowly stood to his feet.

Reyes stopped a short way away, because she didn't want to disturb such a sacred moment between father and son. Still, he stood, and catching sight of her, turned and began to walk directly toward her.

Reyes' heart lifted a little out of the dark emptiness which was crushing it. She remembered the night they had shared, and her soul opened up to him once again, desperately seeking the same comfort and security.

Instead, her heart found itself broken into a million pieces and burned in a white hot flame. Doggett stopped in front of her, and what she saw there destroyed her soul. His eyes bored harshly into her own, and there was no escaping the emotion she saw within them.

Hatred. For her. And for himself.

Reyes wasn't sure how long Doggett stared into her, for it seemed as if it were an eternity. After a time, he turned and walked away, leaving her all alone when she really needed him most. Her heart and soul fell into a despair so deep that she had never even conceived of it.

Where once no words were said between them because of their closeness, now no words had been said between them because of their distance. She tried to tell herself that she had caught him at his worst moment, that his feeling that way about her wasn't real, that those weren't his true feelings toward her. But she had seen it with her own eyes, had felt it in the depths of her soul. Her heart was burned up in the piercing blue of his eyes. The anger inside of John Doggett was there because of her.

The flowers she held in her hand fell silently to the ground. The sky around her began to pour down rain. Her tears became mixed with the water on her face.

Reyes sought a forgiveness which would not be given, pardon which would not be issued, an absolution which would not be granted.

Slowly, she made her way over to Luke's grave. Silently, she dropped to her knees.

There was nothing left for her now. The only reason she had to go on was her determination to find the man that had done this. It was the only chance she would have to rest. It was the only chance she would ever have of setting things right. It was the only chance of ever getting Doggett back in her life. Finding Luke's killer was the only chance of either of them would ever have of finding the release they so desperately needed to move on in life.

She closed her eyes and began to pray.

End.


End file.
